Arab Spring Wary of Economic Lifelines http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55851

Governments and international institutions that once bankrolled the authoritarian regimes of Tunisia’s Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak have begun floating aid packages to speed up the economic recovery and transition to democracy in these countries. Arab revolutionaries have reason to be wary."To accept foreign aid with strings attached would betray the martyrs whose blood was spilled in the revolution," says Egyptian activist Mohamed Mansour. "Thank you Obama, but we’ll manage ourselves."

His position is understandable. Many Arabs blame Western governments and lending institutions for the decades of political repression and intolerable economic conditions that necessitated their revolts. They observed, for instance, how Washington shelled out 2 billion dollars a year in military and economic aid to Mubarak’s regime, and how European donors propped up Ben Ali’s feared security apparatus.    

Their criticism of the World Bank and IMF goes beyond the perception that these agencies use their lending clout to promote projects and policies that funnel wealth to creditors and large corporations. Some accuse them of complicity with authoritarian regimes for promoting policies that widen the income gap for the benefit of a few."There have been outcries in Egypt that our interim government has no business locking us into any lending arrangement," says Hassanein. "The parliament should agree on any decision to institute loans, and we don’t have a parliament yet."